Microsoft Office

Part VI
Programming Excel with VBA
6. You’ll probably want to change the text that appears on the button to make it descriptive, so
right-click the button, choose Edit Text from the shortcut menu, and make your changes.
After performing these steps, clicking the button executes the assigned macro.
FIGURE 39.11
Adding a button to a worksheet so that it can be used to execute a macro.
TIP
You can also assign a macro to a button in your Quick Access Toolbar (QAT). Right-click your
QAT and select Customize Quick Access Toolbar. In the Customize tab of the Excel Options
dialog box, select Macros from the drop-down list on the left. Then select your macro and click the Add
button. To change the icon, click the modify button.
Writing VBA code
As demonstrated in the preceding sections, the easiest way to create a simple macro is to record your
actions. To develop more complex macros, however, you have to enter the VBA code manually — in other
words, write a program. To save time, you can often combine recording with manual code entry.
Before you can begin writing VBA code, you must have a good understanding of such topics as objects,
properties, and methods. And it doesn’t hurt to be familiar with common programming constructs, such as
looping and If-Then statements.
This section is an introduction to VBA programming, which is essential if you want to write (rather than
record) VBA macros. It isn’t intended to be a complete instructional guide. My book titled Excel 2007 Power
Programming with VBA (Wiley Publishing, Inc.) covers all aspects of VBA and advanced spreadsheet application
development.
The basics: Entering and editing code
Before you can enter code, you must insert a VBA module into the workbook. If the workbook already has a
VBA module, you can use the existing module sheet for your new code.
Use the following steps to insert a new VBA module:
1. Press Alt+F11 to activate the VB Editor window. The VB Editor window is a separate application,
although it works very closely with Excel.
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